Seven trade destinations to watch for Anaheim Ducks’ Adam Henrique

Credit: Adam Henrique (© Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports)

With less than a month until the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline March 8, we’re delivering at least one deadline-focused story every day at Daily Faceoff.

Today, we check in on potential landing spots for the best center remaining on the market: Adam Henrique of the Anaheim Ducks.

2024 NHL Trade Deadline Countdown: 23 days

There’s value in versatility. Sure, it’s exciting to land that marquee star forward at the trade deadline, but recent Stanley Cup champions have found success adding middle-six contributors who can play in many situations and slot in to multiple forward positions. Think Artturi Lehkonen in 2021-22 or Ivan Barbashev in 2022-23. Enter Henrique. While, unlike those two names, he’s on the wrong side of his prime at 34 years old, he could make a similar impact on a contender this spring. He can play center of the left wing, he’s a handy net-front guy on the power play, and he can kill penalties. As my colleague Frank Seravalli’s recent scouting report indicates, Henrique’s intelligence is his greatest asset and makes up for his lack of foot speed.

A couple weeks ago, we tabbed Henrique as the No. 3 center option on the market. That was before Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan flew off the board, traded to the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets, respectively. Now, Henrique is arguably the top pivot remaining.

Which landing spots would make sense for his services? Consider these seven teams, factoring in Ducks GM Pat Verbeek’s reported asking price of a second-round pick, a third-round pick and an extra third for teams that want 50 percent salary retention.

Boston Bruins

Why he makes sense: The Bruins haven’t matched their historic pace of 2022-23 following Patrice Bergeron’s and David Krejci’s retirements, but they’ve been the Eastern Conference’s best team regardless. Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha have done admirable work as Boston’s new top two centers, with Coyle in particular exceeding expectations, but the B’s could still use more depth among their top nine forwards, especially after losing rookie center Matthew Poitras to a season-ending shoulder injury.

What it might cost: The Bruins might be the NHL’s most asset-poor team in terms of young talent they can spare to entice a seller team, but a player like Henrique fits their price range. Problem: They don’t own a pick until Round 4 of the 2024 NHL Draft, so they’d have to get creative to meet Verbeek’s asking price and consider dangling their 2025 first-rounder.

Fly in the ointment: With only $1 million of cap space stashed on LTIR in the form of Milan Lucic, the Bruins are pretty capped out. They’d likely need 50 percent salary retention and even then might not have the room, meaning they’d want to move money out or involve a third-party broker.

Colorado Avalanche

Why he makes sense: The Avs’ forward depth is nowhere near what it was when they won the Stanley Cup two years ago. They remain without wingers Gabriel Landeskog (knee) and Valeri Nichushkin (player assistance), and, after losing Nazem Kadri and J.T. Compher in consecutive offseasons, have used Ryan Johansen and Ross Colton as second-line centers. Henrique would have an opportunity for a major role in Colorado – at left wing or center. The Avs are one of the weaker faceoff teams in the league, and Henrique has been a whiz in the second half of his career, winning 53 per cent of his draws in seven seasons as a Duck.

What it might cost: The Avs don’t own second-round picks in the next two drafts and don’t have a third-rounder this year, either. So they’d have to offer their 2026 second-rounder or one of their first-rounders instead – or pivot to a prospect if their pick offerings can’t woo the Ducks. The Avs aren’t swimming in high-ceiling young talent, though.

Fly in the ointment: Is Henrique enough? It all depends on how confident GM Chris MacFarland is that he’ll have Landeskog and Nichushkin for the playoffs. If Colorado doesn’t have them, it needs to aim higher than Henrique and target a true front-line forward.

Dallas Stars

Why he makes sense: Henrique’s best work came early in his career with the New Jersey Devils. In 2011-12 was a Calder Trophy finalist, led the NHL in shorthanded goals and had three playoff game-winners during their run to the Stanley Cup Final. His coach then: Pete DeBoer, who helms the Stars now. And they just happened to place one of their top nine forwards, Evgenii Dadonov, on injured reserve. He isn’t expected back before the Trade Deadline.

What it might cost: Because GM Jim Nill tends to chase moderate options when he makes trades, the Stars are down many mid-round picks, including their 2024 third and fourth, and their 2025 second. He could still cobble an offer together using his 2024 second-rounder as the primary piece, however.

Fly in the ointment: Unless the Stars slide Dadonov to LTIR, they will have a hard time squeezing Henrique’s cap hit in without salary retention, and retention means kicking in another mid-round pick. See above; the Stars are short several of those.

Florida Panthers

Why he makes sense: The Cats are hellbent on topping last year’s Stanley Cup Final defeat and going all the way. They’re probably one forward short of an elite top nine. They juggle their forward lines more than a lot of contenders do, so it would help to have Henrique’s versatility. They have more cap space than the other teams on this list and could possibly afford fit his cap hit in without Anaheim retaining money. Per CapFriendly, their projected deadline-day cap space is north of $5.7 million.

What it might cost: The Panthers don’t have their 2024 second-rounder, but they have five of their six picks in Rounds 2-3 over the next three drafts, so GM Bill Zito can make an offer work.

Fly in the ointment: The Panthers could also opt to upgrade the right side of their third defensive pair and thus may want to devote their trade assets toward that cause. Ideally they can afford both Henrique and, say, a blueliner like Sean Walker.

New Jersey Devils

Why he makes sense: Henrique played the first eight seasons of his NHL career with the Devils, so the fit should be comfortable even if the teammates would be new. With Michael McLeod off the team while facing sexual assault charges along with four 2018 Canadian world junior teammates, the Devils are short a bottom-six forward. Henrique wouldn’t necessarily be a bottom-sixer but could bump Erik Haula down to the third line.

What it might cost: The Devils own their 2025 and 2026 second-round picks and each of their next three third-round picks. With Dougie Hamilton on LTIR, they can easily afford Henrique’s full cap hit and thus wouldn’t have to kick in the extra third-rounder for 50 percent retention.

Fly in the ointment: The Devils still have an uphill climb even to make the playoffs given their top pair of Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler remains out. Is it worth going all-in on trades this season? They don’t need to be all-in. Their contention window will remain open for years. And if GM Tom Fitzgerald decides to make moves, goaltender and defense are the higher-priority holes to plug.

New York Rangers

Why he makes sense: Perhaps no team has a more obvious need for a player like Henrique. The Rangers are definitively in win-now mode and are down their third-line center with Filip Chytil done for the year as he recovers from a what is believed to be a brain injury. Not only would Henrique fit their team need perfectly, but he would be a candidate to re-sign. The Rangers have more than $14 million in cap space for next season, and Ryan Lindgren is the only major restricted free agent whose AAV isn’t account for.

What it might cost: There’s actually another RFA of note for GM Chris Drury to re-sign: perennially underachieving right winger Kaapo Kakko. In our Trade Deadline Matchmaker story that ran on Valentine’s Day, Seravalli pointed out that the Rangers don’t have their next two third-round picks and could thus include Kakko, who badly needs a fresh start, along with a second-round pick.

Fly in the ointment: Henrique is a highly intelligent player. That’s his best attribute. But he’s not fast. According to NHL EDGE, the Rangers’ max skating speed lands them below the 50^th percentile, and they sit in the 56^th percentile in speed bursts of 20 mph or more. Henrique wouldn’t remedy their speed problem.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Why he makes sense: Random Bobby McMann hat trick aside, the Leafs desperately needs scoring depth. Off-season signings Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi have combined for 11 goals with Toronto’s season more than 50 games old. Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and John Tavares have scored 60 per cent of the team’s goals. For perspective: the Colorado Avalanche are the NHL’s highest-scoring team and get 48 percent of their goals from their top-four scorers. The Canucks, right behind them in goals per game: 49 percent. The Leafs must harvest more offense from their middle six.

What it might cost: After years of aggressive trade deadline moves from GM Kyle Dubas, the Leafs have…no second-round picks in the next three drafts. So they’d have to consider combining a couple third-rounders with a mid-range prospect or sacrifice a first-round pick. Keep in mind that the Leafs would need a bit of salary-retention help, which could require offering a larger package to Anaheim.

Fly in the ointment: Secondary scoring wasn’t supposed to be a problem this season. That’s why Toronto signed Bertuzzi and Domi, right? Toronto’s greater weakness is team defense. They need at least one impact blueliner, if not two. Chasing a forward feels like a luxury. Besides, even though they’re top-heavy at forward, it’s working; they have the league’s No. 6 offense and No. 4 power play.

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